


little snippets

by LittleMusing



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, guest starring Bokuroo, super haphazard rusty writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6048841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMusing/pseuds/LittleMusing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A college/coffee shop AU that turned out to be neither and spiralled out of control, but at least hopefully fluffy as hell</p>
            </blockquote>





	little snippets

**Author's Note:**

> I only meant to write 700 or so words of fluff oh my god it spiralled out of control just imagine whatever you want them to wear this is a literal stream of consciousness

One Kozume Kenma doesn't necessarily chug coffee like it's lifeblood like some of his coursemates, but some things have to be done when you stayed up late to fight just one more boss (again) and you have a reputation to uphold. (A stupid kind of rep; that weirdo duo being all 'ohoho' and taking bets whether he'd fall asleep in class after an all-nighter. They should really leave him alone.)

He enters the coffee shop near campus and stands aside briefly, pinching the bridge of his nose. It's not like it helps to jolt him awake, but it's become a kind of habit to psyche himself up. "WELCOME!" an unfamiliar voice shrieks, effectively snapping him to attention. There's someone new today for this shift, his tired eyes practically assaulted by the vibrant orange tuft of hair. "WHAT CAN I GET YOU?"

He'd really like the new guy to stop shouting from across the shop, but Kenma supposes he's got nothing else better to do, and it's his job (minus volume). "Oi, Hinata, don't scream like that, you'll freak the others," the voice of the manager, whose name escapes Kenma, rings out from the kitchen.

"There's no one else here, it's okay!" 'Hinata' grins widely at Kenma. "Hi! Hinata Shouyou, the newbie! Go easy on me with the orders, I hear some order some really crazy combinations," the latter half he whispers conspiratorially.

"Um." Kenma can't respond coherently right now. "Just... a latte. Less sugar. A tall."

He's not sure if he's seeing things but 'Hinata' seems to just glow. It's really too bright for his current state. Telling himself he should stop pulling all-nighters don't work (much). Caffeine in general isn't his thing; he doesn't like the way it gives him headaches but when you repeatedly make terrible decisions you have to do what you gotta do. Kenma realizes Hinata has been rambling all the while over the hiss of the coffee machine, but he's been staring blankly at the menu board.

"... sorry, I didn't catch any of that."

He feels slightly guilty at seeing Hinata deflate. "Oh." He picks himself up rather easily, though, to Kenma's slight envy. "Let's start over! What's your name?"

"Kozume Kenma."

"Kenma! What year? I'm in my first, but second semester! Parents said I should settle in to campus life before I started doing anything else. There's so many places to remember!"

"Second year, first semester. Um, yeah. It's a little overwhelming at times."

"Ohh, are you older than me? I turned 19! There are older students in some of my classes, it's so cool!" Hinata's waving his arms about, as though trying to conjure the image of those students.

"I'm 20 later this year." Kenma isn't sure if there are advance students, but then again it's a harmless question.

"You're my senior! Cool! Why'd you dye your hair like that?" Hinata's eyes are shining and looking at him so keenly. Kenma feels a little hot under the collar with such scrutiny.

'Like that' meant a somewhat odd two-tone hair, with black at the roots and blond past that. Kenma remembers a time he wanted to 'fit in' with his peers who were doing similar things, but halfway through it he didn't think it worth the effort. It worked out, somehow.

"... I got lazy," he opts for a short answer.

Hinata giggles. Kenma flushes just slightly. "That's still cool! Oh right, here's your latte. I uh," Hinata fiddles with his apron. "Hope I didn't make you late."

Kenma shakes his head. He always made a move early now that he didn't have to tag Kuroo along, and made sure he had enough time for everything along the way. "I'm fine, thanks... Shouyou."

Hinata, now called Shouyou, brightens up even more, if that were possible. "See you around, Kenma!!"

Kenma leaves the shop, smiling slightly into his latte.

  


* * *

  


Having successfully stayed awake through class - Kenma vaguely wonders who of his classmates tattles on him to the weirdoes - he starts his walk to find a quiet spot to eat his lunch. He doesn't really remember class itself, but having the foresight about his habits meant he recorded the session for a later review. He finds an empty table at the general use student hall and settles down with his laptop.

For all his strangeness, Kuroo is a really good friend, one that drags him around a bit more than he liked back in school, but he probably needed it. Even though they're taking different paths now he still drops by regularly and being some mother hen bearing food and lecture. It's just rice and egg today, Kuroo must've been in a hurry. Kenma idly browses the net while eating when a yell startles him and he chokes briefly on his food.

"OH MY GOD, I'M SORRY!! KENMA WHERE'S YOUR WATER??"

Kenma holds his hand up, and exhales loudly. "I'm... fine," he croaks a little. He fishes for the bottle in his bag and takes a grateful gulp. "Shouyou."

The bright-haired boy gives him a sheepish wave. "I'm waiting for class to start," he says, in a more reasonable tone. He rocks on his heels and whistles softly. "What are you doing?"

"Eating."

"Oh. Oh! Do you like volleyball?"

Shouyou's eyes are shining so bright Kenma feels bad about disappointing him with a less than enthusiastic answer. "Not really," he admits. "I used to play it though."

"Aww! What position did you play? Oh, and I'm still playing! I'm in the uni club! I'm not a regular yet though, but I will!" Shouyou punches the air with determination. Kenma wonders if he should ask him to sit down.

"I was the setter... do you want to sit?"

"I'm fine, thanks! I'm going to run soon! Can you throw some tosses for me sometime? Kageyama followed me here though we're taking different things but we're still playing volleyball! It's so weird calling him Tobio!! He doesn't call me Shouyou either so I guess we're even. Come watch us practice sometime!" He continues punching the air in front of him.

"... okay," Kenma finds himself agreeing due to his new friend's (?) infectious enthusiasm. Kuroo and Bokutou would be there too, he realizes. He makes a note to mentally prepare himself.

"Sweet!" Shouyou looks like he's resisting to jump into the air. Kenma notes he does seem fairly short to be playing volleyball. "I'll see you later bye!"

Kenma realizes too late he had his food suspended in mid air while he was talking to Shouyou.

  


* * *

  


He can hear the squeaks of shoes and the thumps of the balls hitting the court floor from outside of the gym. He refused to join the club with Kuroo; high school was enough for him. He figures he might need to find some other way to get fit, or not be fit at all. He weighs the options to himself.

"Yooo Kenma! You decided to join after all?" Kuroo throws his arm around Kenma's shoulders.

"No, I'm just here for... a friend," he considers pushing Kuroo's arm off but decides it's not worth the effort. Kenma cringes at the other boy's sly face.

"I'm not a friend, Kenma?" he cries dramatically. "You're so cruel to me!"

"Who broke your heart bro?!"

Kenma sighs internally as the other half of the weirdo duo enters the scene. From what Kenma gathered, Kuroo and Bokuto first met in the volleyball club, and from then on was a highly fictional, wildly embellished kind of love story (??). He isn't very sure himself, and he suspects both of them are actively trying to outmeme each other in terms of the tall tales they tell others.

Kuroo immediately turns to cry on Bokuto's shoulder (unconvincingly). "Kenma says he's here for a friend, that's not me!"

"There, there, I'm here for you, bro," Kenma groans as both dramatically clutch at each other. He wants to run, but he already sort-of promised Shouyou. For him, he'd suffer through this today. He frowns to himself and concludes his reasoning must be because he doesn't want to be the kind of person to be a jerk to someone as sunny as Shouyou.

"Kenma! You came!"

Shouyou dashes over to him and grabs his hands. Kenma immediately blushes, unused to contact. Shouyou seems to notice this, and lets go. "Sorry! I just get excited," he babbles a little, holding his hands behind his back.

Kenma's too embarrassed to notice the snickering from Kuroo and Bokuto, who promptly remove themselves from the scene. "Kenma say something!" Shouyou squeaks, getting more alarmed at Kenma's extended silence and wonderfully red face.

"I. I'm. Not. Used to this," he finally says, to Shouyou's immense relief. Kuroo may also be the... 'energetic' type, but Kenma's had most of his life to get used to it.

"Come in! Kageyama's probably going to yell at me for being late, but I'm not late! He just comes crazy early to have the court to himself or something," Shouyou gestures a lot when talking. Kenma finds it really cute and funny. Before he can even think to blush again, he's pulled into the gym.

Without the door to muffle the sounds of play, Kenma's taken back to the times he was on the court himself. As a team, they probably could have gotten further. He felt, back then, he was fine where he was. They were good, but not good enough. He probably disappointed Kuroo, but he never said anything about it.

"Kenma?"

"Huh?"

"You've been staring at the court a long time."

"Oh. Uh, shouldn't you be practicing?"

It was at this point Kenma realizes Shouyou's been holding his hand all the while, now that he lets go. "You went quiet again. I'm not a regular yet anyway, coach is a little more lenient. I'll come back later!" and off he goes.

Kenma doesn't know who the Kageyama mentioned is, sitting on the sidelines and watching them. It feels familiar, yet foreign, now that he has to be severely out of practice. He feels bad that Shouyou is apologizing to the coach because he got distracted, but he has to be pretty promising if the coach is just letting him go pretty easily. Bokuto and Kuroo are doing well for themselves, though Kenma doesn't quite remember if Kuroo told him he was a regular. Kuroo might've assumed Kenma completely lost interest in volleyball after high school and opted not to say anything.

Everyone here is so focused, and he feels out of place. He guesses the black haired one grumbling at Shouyou as he rotates in is Kageyama. When Kenma sees him in action, he feels blown away. In some other time, he might've gotten the drive to go to the nationals. Right now, he feels mesmerized and is painfully aware of the rapid thudding in his chest.

Shouyou doesn't come over to him again until the whole court is dismissed. He'd been watching with rapt attention whenever he was on the sidelines, which was often. "You were good," Kenma says before Shouyou opens his mouth. His friend beams with pride.

"I'll go change first! I'll see you outside!"

Shouyou rambles about Kageyama whom he correctly guessed, about _whooshes_ , _bams_ , _kapows_ and such, as Kenma nods away thoughtfully. The younger boy doesn't seem to mind Kenma hardly responds, which he's utterly grateful for. He's not sure if he can catch up with Shouyou's speedy train of thought yet. The boy in question suddenly stops walking. "Oh! I'm on shift tomorrow at the shop! At lunch! Stop by if you can!" he bounces a little, grinning.

Kenma can't help but smile in return. "I will."

  


* * *

  


Conveniently enough, Kuroo didn't give him lunch today. Sometimes Kenma wonders if he's like a helicopter parent who wants to push their child around into doing things, with his brand of subtlety. Third years apparently have a lot of theses to write, so he can't easily catch his wayward childhood friend.

The shop is crowded with students and some campus staff at this hour. Kenma doesn't think it's particularly cheap, but it beats the cafeteria in ambience. Shouyou is at the cashier with his tongue sticking out for whatever reason, and Kenma resists laughing at the sight. He's spotted, and he waves back. There's a counter table seat, so Kenma goes to it. He can people watch from here too, so it suits him just fine. He's not quite hungry yet, so he opts to wait out the initial rush first, and takes out his console to while away some time.

He gets a tap on his shoulder after a while, and he's not surprised it's Shouyou. "Hey."

"Hi! Aren't you gonna order anything?"

Kenma looks over to the counter, the queue thinned out. "In a bit. Aren't you still working?"

Shouyou flushes a little, the occurrence making Kenma's eyebrows rise in surprise. "Manager Ukai noticed me looking eagerly at you so he let me take a break."

"Oh. I'll... be right back with something." Kenma pauses, wondering if the shop gives staff free food. He thinks he should ask anyway, to be polite. "Do you want something?"

"No, nonono! I'm fine!" Shouyou's so vehement it makes him laugh. It serves to make the boy even redder.

He gets a sandwich and chocolate drink from Shouyou's female co-worker, a blonde girl with a nervous disposition. Kenma sympathizes with her and only does the minimal required motions as to not agitate her further. She gives him a shy smile which he returns.

Shouyou's been watching his belongings like a hawk. Kenma's highly amused at his flapping motions when he returns; he doesn't think the other is aware of how much motion and energy he's displaying. It feels admittedly refreshing, somehow. "What did you get?"

"Ham sandwich and hot chocolate."

"You should eat more, Kenma! You're so small sized!"

At that Kenma actually laughs out loud. He covers his mouth, blushing. Shouyou looks amazed. "H-how about you? You're shorter than me, and do more exercise."

He puffs out his chest. "I do eat a lot! Meat is good! And lots of rice!"

As if on cue, Shouyou's stomach growls. "I'llgogetmyfood!" he dashes off. Kenma imagines him bowling down customers left and right. He's back rather quickly bearing a bento with a rather adorable Hello Kitty wrapping. "My younger sister chooses the covers," he mumbles. Kenma thinks he hasn't laughed so much in a day before.

  


* * *

  


Being in different years means conflicting schedules, but they at least are able to text a lot. It doesn't occur to Kenma how much "a lot" is until Kuroo, the nosey friend he is, points out the 800 over messages he has, _after_ clearing out some that were merely Shouyou spamming emojis. (He has screenshots of those instead.) Kuroo loudly declares his intentions to want to meet "this Shouyou", making it sound like taking time out from his very difficult thesis writing was a major sacrifice. Knowing Kuroo he'd likely be almost done; as flaky he could be, he still was the team captain for a reason.

Kuroo does ambush one of his meetings with Shouyou, 'accidentally' bumping into them on one of their short walks. Kenma doesn't understand why Kuroo doesn't interrogate him during volleyball, then considers he probably already does.

"I approve of the shrimp!" Kuroo proclaims the next time he drops by Kenma's dorm with food. He dodges the pillow Kenma tosses at him.

  


* * *

  


As Kenma's birthday rolls around, everyone's schedules have changed again. Kenma has more morning classes while Shouyou's are later in the day, but neither really meet each other at the coffee shop. Kenma really wants to go back to sleep after classes, but he makes sure he responds to texts once he's up again.

He wants to sleep in on his birthday, which Kuroo is oddly okay with. Kenma is suspicious and thinks he might get jumped on with a cake, or worse. His childhood friend does not have a very trustworthy face. Kenma realizes he didn't ask when Shouyou's birthday was - he assumes it already passed by the time they met the first time - nor did he supply it to his friend. His birthday isn't a big deal anyway.

... which is why when October 16th arrives, he's just rendered speechless at the sloppy bow tacked on Shouyou's head. The boy looks like he might burst.

"KUROO SAID YOU _MIGHT_ LIKE THIS!" he screeches. It sounds more like a dying wail of complete embarrassment.

The loud voice reminds him it is merely 7 am on a weekend. Kenma pulls him in and quickly shuts the door. "I." is all Kenma can manage right now, having expected to remain comatose until the afternoon.

"Can I take the bow off now?"

"... sure."

Shouyou dumps the offending article into the bin. Kenma sits on his bed, still dazed from lack of sleep. "Kenma? Are you okay?"

"Just." He rubs his eyes, trying to keep them open. "Need sleep."

"Ah! You can lean on me!!" Shouyou's face seems really red.

"Did Kuroo tell you to use cheesy lines on me."

"Um..!! Yes."

Kenma sighs heavily. He hopes he can handle this better when he's had more sleep. "I'll come back to you later. Let me get more rest," he manages, and drops back to bed.

When he's awake next and reasonably alive, Shouyou's asleep. He probably was running on adrenaline to do something as dumb as that. There's a pie that's mysteriously materialized on his study table. He's considers the pros and cons of reporting Kuroo for breaking into his room. Kenma cuts a small slice of pie and tastes it; he decides that Kuroo can stay. The slight smell wafting from the cut pie seems to wake Shouyou up. "Do you want some? Pie. Apple."

The idea of food perks him up immediately. "Yeah!"

Try as they might, eating the pie is still slightly messy. Neither are saying anything right now as they clean up with tissues, trying to pick up all the crumbs. Kenma's not sure what to ask. _Kuroo said I might like this? What do you mean?_ He has a feeling he knows, considering the thumping in his chest, but he'll keep cool for now. Once done, they sit next to each other, studying the empty wall in front of them.

"You didn't like it?" Shouyou asks in the smallest voice Kenma's ever heard him use.

So much for keeping cool, Kenma begins blushing furiously. "It... wasn't bad. A surprise."

Shouyou laughs shyly (!). "Can we call this a date, then?"

Kenma twiddles his thumbs. "Sure."

There's a heavy silence. Kenma leans to plant a tiny kiss on Shouyou's cheek. With both faces aflame, they don't say anything else after that.

**Author's Note:**

> This was pretty haphazard I didn't know where I was going with it I based just a little bit of stuff on my own uni  
> I still posted it because I think it was cute even though I haven't written anything in a while. I hope you enjoyed it!!!  
> You can bother me @ fortunaourania.tumblr.com


End file.
